Another eye opener. I e-mailed 8 Washington DC area Five Star Chrysler dealers for estimates on what will be at least $500 in work (two new front tires & a four-wheel alignment). I said in the email I was contacting several individually to compare estimates. I asked that they confirm they have the equipment for the 4-wheel alignment (I knew of at least two 5 star dealers in the DC area do not), that they have a Xfi tech on staff, and that he would do this work if I went with their dealership. I provided my phone # and/or email address as requested in their respective online contact forms (on the dealer websites). I heard back from only 2 of the 8. For any one of the 6 that didn't bother to respond it could be (1) they don't have the equipment to balance 19 inch wheels and not replying took less effort than giving the courtesy of a reply, or (2) they don't have a Xfi mechanic and not replying took less effort than giving the courtesy of a reply, or (3) they do have a Xfi mechanic but won't commit him to such mundane work as installing tires and doing an alignment, or (4) they have contact forms on their dealer websites but no one reads the inbox, or (5) they just don't need the business -- unfortunately a problem with many car dealerships in the DC area/they're inundated with work, or (6) as batmobl alluded to, they groan to see a Xfi pull up, say hmm when they look under the hood -- in a word they are just as happy to let Crossfire business go to some other dealership. I think #6 was a factor in at least some of the non-responses. A sad commentary no matter what mix of these is the case.

p.s. -- DC area folks check the Northeast forum where I will go into more detail and name names.

 

You may have better luck going to the dealer not just emailing them.
The emails are often not reviewed well.
Best of luck finding a dealer you like. They are out there just hopefully you can find one near you.

 

On one hand I can see that (that going in or calling would get better response). They can hardly ignore you if you're standing before them. But doing that is more time consuming, and coincides with my working hours, so being able to email them is a lot more convenient. My thought is if they don't want to be in the email game that is perfectly acceptable - they should simply decline to provide an email address/online request form; but if they advertise on their websites that you can contact them through their online contact form, they need to review and reply to them. To me that's just good business, Crossfire or Honda or BMW or Pinto!

(Also all of my e-mail contacts were through websites belonging to the local dealers, not the cookie cutter email link through chrysler.com).

Thanks.

 

Send this email to Dr. Z.

 

Good point. I have never seen a dealer ad that stated email requests were taken for service work but then again, I never looked.

 

Why not just call???

There is a chance that an email may have gotten caught by a spam filter, the person that reviews emails is out, emails are not responded to but once a week, etc... Sometimes talking over the phone can get you more then an email - its more personable.

And why not just order your tires from Tire Rack and find a local mechanic that works on European cars install them and do your alignment?

 

I agree with Sharon. I would not go to a dealer for tire mounting, balancing and alignment. Any good MB or European car shop can do a good job. This is not a warranty issue. So, if you feel better about going to a dealer, go to a Benz dealer. They will probably charge you the same as Chrysler dealer would.

 

Thanks Sharon and FP. Question, even though tires themselves are not warranty items, if someone else installs them then isn't the warranty invalidated for any part of the car that touches or is in the vicinity of the tires - like suspension components etc?

 

No, tires are not part of the car’s warranty. They are warranted by the tire manufacturer.

 

Also any local custom shop that sell and installs "bling bling" 20" or bigger wheels should have the correct equipment.

 

Sharon, I agree with you that calls are good. But calling 8 places would've meant being on the phone at work and you usually get voice mails and put on hold a lot in my past experience. It was just nice to be able to shoot emails out at 9pm. Again I don't hold it against anybody if they don't have an email address but if they post one they should answer. If they answer later in the week I will recant.

Thanks for the tirerack advice. Believe it or not, one of the dealers offered me a price that is less than tirerack's when you factor in shipping. I think this particular tire is being phased out and that my be trying to destock them, so I got lucky. I'm very happy with the quote I got, just didn't like the brush off from the non-responding dealers.

Thanks.

 

It's amazing most dealers do ANY business whatsoever. They just look at people as a hassle and prey on the dumb ones to make money. The service departments are not much better. You are lucky you are in the DC area, there are lots of Benz service places around (both corporate and independent). I know of few independents around me (Annapolis), and plan on talking to them before I take mine to the local Chrysler dealer. I've only got 4,000 miles on Otto so far, so no need for service yet.

 

After the tires are installed, I do believe a trip to a DC dealer is in order to recalibrate the TPM system.

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

Nope, no recalibration required unless it's been damaged or had another problem to begin with. I've had one tire replaced because of road damage and two others removed and reinstalled to fix punctures.

 

Why do you need a crossfire tech to put on tires?

 

Well there's certainly a diversity of opinion on this forum. When I posted in the past about problems with a tire retailer people posted that they employ young and/or little trained mechanics so what did I expect by going to one. I got the sense that others on the forum were sorry to hear about the troubles, but also thought I was a little foolish to have trusted our fine performance car to a tire chain. So ya'll convinced me not to go to those stores anymore. And now that I've decided/posted about going to a dealer for the same type work, people are asking why I'm not going to a tire chain, and it comes across that people think I'm a little foolish for not doing so. I have to get the work done someplace.

So, I am going to a dealer in large part because of past problems with tire retailers. Also because the TPSM is so sensitive and I don't want to have to go to a dealership afterwards, to reset or repair it. Also by shopping around I found a dealer who beat my local tire retailer's price and tirerack.com's price.

And I figure if I'm going to the dealer I'll take a Xfi mechanic - it, to my knowledge, doesn't cost any more than the generalist mechanic.

Thanks I do appreciate everyone's feedback, just got a chuckle about first hearing "you get what you pay for" at the tire retailer and then hearing go to the tire retailer.

 

Opinions are a wonderful thing, ain't they?

 

yep everybody has one.

 

And some have lots more than one, even on the same subject...

 

So if you take it to the dealer they are going to send it out to a local tire repair store... do you not know that? Dealership or not you end up with tire replacement and repair going to an outside work order. hooah.